The Hashgraph Association is one of the driving forces behind Hedera Hashgraph’s expansion across global markets. Created to turn Hedera’s technology into real-world adoption, the nonprofit delivers structured support for builders, enterprises, and governments. Its programs include funding, education, mentorship, and strategic partnerships. At the center of this mission is Kamal Youssefi, who co-founded The Hashgraph Association and now leads as President of the Board. His leadership has transformed Hedera’s potential into measurable adoption across multiple industries and continents.
🌐 The Hashgraph Association | Milestones • Adoption • Global Impact
— Generation Infinity (@GenfinityIO) May 27, 2025
Join our exclusive interview with @YoussefiKamal, President of the Board @The_Hashgraph, as we explore how the association is scaling real-world, global adoption of Hedera Hashgraph! https://t.co/dFjLK9W6EK
Meet Kamal Youssefi: Architect of Enterprise DLT Expansion
Educational Foundation in Distributed Systems
Kamal Youssefi’s technical journey began in Germany, where he earned degrees in computer science from TU Darmstadt and Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. His studies focused on applied mathematics, algorithm design, in-memory computing, and distributed data systems. This background gave him the foundation to work at the intersection of software scalability and digital infrastructure—areas that would later prove essential in blockchain system design.
Early Career at SAP and EY Switzerland
After university, Youssefi joined SAP, where he worked on enterprise platforms serving multinational clients. He later moved to EY Switzerland, where he became a Technical Lead for SAP HANA within the advisory division. His role focused on digital transformation projects for clients in finance and logistics. During this time, he helped design one of EY’s early internal tools for digital asset custody—an experimental wallet for managing cryptocurrencies in a professional environment.
That project was one of EY’s first attempts to operationalize blockchain for enterprise use. It sparked Youssefi’s deeper interest in secure, verifiable transaction systems and led him toward blockchain as a core career focus.
Co-Founding Swisscom Blockchain AG
In 2017, Youssefi co-founded Swisscom Blockchain AG in partnership with Swisscom Group, Switzerland’s largest telecom and IT infrastructure provider. He served as Managing Partner and Head of Financial Services and Innovation Programs. At Swisscom Blockchain, Youssefi oversaw enterprise projects in digital identity, real-world asset tokenization, and digital asset custody—all built to comply with Swiss and EU regulatory frameworks.
The firm delivered blockchain pilots for financial institutions, created infrastructure for tokenized equity platforms, and engaged with government stakeholders. These efforts positioned Switzerland as a leader in regulated digital finance, with Swisscom Blockchain playing a key enabling role. Youssefi’s leadership focused not only on technical delivery but also on building trusted ecosystems that balanced innovation with compliance.
Founding Member of the Hedera Council
Youssefi’s work at Swisscom led him to Hedera Hashgraph in early 2018. He engaged directly with co-founders Dr. Leemon Baird and Mance Harmon, who were preparing to launch a new public distributed ledger based on the Hashgraph consensus algorithm. Together, they discussed the formation of the Hedera Council (formerly Hedera Governing Council) —a body designed to provide decentralized governance by leading global organizations.
Youssefi played a direct role in the Council’s structure and brought Swisscom into the founding group alongside Deutsche Telekom, Boeing, Nomura, DLA Piper, and others.
“I had the privilege and honor of representing Swisscom Group… part of the initial founding members.”
Kamal Youssefi – President, The Hashgraph Association
His contributions went beyond membership. He helped shape Hedera’s early enterprise engagement strategies and ensured that governance design aligned with long-term adoption goals. His experience in regulatory enterprise solutions allowed him to bridge between technical innovation and institutional trust.
Identifying the Need for Structured Adoption
As the Hedera network matured, Youssefi recognized a recurring challenge: many projects had technical potential but lacked the operational support to deploy at scale. The network needed an intermediary to provide funding, training, and program-level acceleration. Governance alone could not deliver that support.
This insight led him to co-found The Hashgraph Association in 2021. The goal was to build a nonprofit engine that would take Hedera from infrastructure to implementation—equipping builders, enterprises, and governments with the resources to launch production-ready solutions. As President of the Association, Youssefi now leads Hedera’s largest organized push toward global ecosystem adoption.
Founding The Hashgraph Association
The Hashgraph Association was founded in late 2021 to support practical, regulated adoption of Hedera Hashgraph. While Hedera’s council model created robust governance, the ecosystem needed an execution layer to support developers, enterprises, and institutions building on the network. The Hashgraph Association was created to provide that layer, delivering strategic programs that drive real-world use cases.
According to Youssefi, “The Hashgraph Association is a non-profit… with the mission to actively empower the Hashgraph community.” From its headquarters in Switzerland, the Association supports builders across five pillars: education, funding, acceleration, scaling, and cross-pollination. Each of these pillars forms part of a long-term strategy to ensure sustainable growth of the Hedera ecosystem.
The Five Pillars of The Hashgraph Association
The Hashgraph Association’s work rests on five integrated pillars designed to support Hedera’s expansion.
- Education and Empowerment is the first step. The Association builds talent pipelines through training, bootcamps, and university partnerships. Programs have launched in Switzerland, India, Morocco, and South Africa, and now include high school and primary school engagement. Hedera-specific coursework has been introduced at technical universities, and Switzerland will soon host the first dedicated blockchain and digital assets faculty in the world.
- Funding supports the deployment of impactful projects. The Hashgraph Innovation Program, backed by $165 million, provides milestone-based grants. Funding tiers include up to $250,000 for startups, $750,000 for enterprises, and $1.5 million for government-led initiatives. All funded projects receive hands-on support and are expected to demonstrate measurable progress.
- Acceleration is achieved through direct support systems. These include engineering support, go-to-market strategy, project management, and even board seat placement. The Association focuses on “high-touch, low-scale” delivery. Instead of distributing thousands of small grants, THA chooses to work deeply with high-potential projects.
- Scaling relies on partnerships. THA works with IBM, Orange, Swisscom, Wipro, and other system integrators to expand project capacity. These firms manage large-scale implementations, while THA guides the Hedera-specific integration points. Strategic consulting partners like BCG, Deloitte, and PwC bring regulatory and policy expertise.
- Cross-Pollination ensures that value generated in the ecosystem stays within it. The Association connects startups with council members like Google, Nomura, and Standard Bank, enabling real-world collaboration. Youssefi explains, “We are putting everything together and trying to create value… and most importantly retain that value within the Hedera ecosystem.”
Global Expansion: Regional Strategies and Deployment
The Hashgraph Association implements a region-specific strategy across six global clusters.
- Switzerland remains the operational headquarters due to its legal clarity and early crypto adoption. In Europe, THA leverages Liechtenstein’s EU integration to navigate policy and funding programs.
- In the Middle East and North Africa, THA has established hubs in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Morocco. In the UAE, Abu Dhabi has become a financial center with $1.7 trillion in assets under management. Meanwhile, Dubai hosted over 500 Web3 side events during Token2049, underscoring regional momentum.
- In Africa, Morocco and South Africa serve as anchors for community development. Morocco recently published a national digital asset regulatory framework.
- India has become a strategic education market, with 20,000 developers trained through THA-backed initiatives. Singapore and Hong Kong support the APAC strategy as entry points into regulated Asian finance and innovation zones.
This decentralized approach allows THA to match resources to regional strengths and needs.
Institutional Alliances and Ecosystem Partners
THA has developed a four-tiered partner strategy that connects startups with global implementation resources.
- Technology experts provide subject matter knowledge for digital identity, tokenization, and stablecoin platforms.
- System integrators like Accenture and Tata manage end-to-end implementation for projects too large for internal teams.
- Consulting firms like McKinsey and BCG handle regulatory coordination and policy design. In this context, THA plays the role of technical provider, embedding Hedera into use-case design.
- Universities and research centers form the final layer, supplying developer talent and co-designing training modules.
Active enterprise collaborations include ongoing projects with Deloitte Netherlands and PwC Switzerland.
The Hedera Africa Hackathon: Scaling from the Ground Up
In 2024, THA and the Exponential Science Foundation launched the Hedera Africa Hackathon with a prize pool of over $1 million. The initiative supports developers across the continent, with no restrictions on the types of use cases submitted. Orange, a major telecom provider, offers access to 16 local hubs where developers can join bootcamps and hacking stations.
According to Youssefi, “The goal here is really to democratize access to the Web3 economy while including underprivileged countries and regions.”
Submitted use cases fall into five main areas:
- Digital identity and self-sovereign systems
- ESG and sustainability tracking
- Supply chain and logistics
- Real-world asset tokenization
- DeFi, AI integration, and fintech tools
Developers worldwide can join African teams as contributors or mentors, making the event inclusive and globally relevant.
🚨 The Hedera Africa Hackathon 2025 is now live.
— The Hashgraph Association (@The_Hashgraph) May 26, 2025
Launched by @The_Hashgraph in collaboration with @Exponential_Sci and operated by @DarBlockchain, it’s Africa’s largest Web3 hackathon to date with a $1,000,000+ prize pool.@Hedera_Hacks pic.twitter.com/uH88UIa7yp
Interoperability and Collaboration Across Layer 1 Networks
The Hashgraph Association views collaboration across Layer 1 networks as essential to scaling real-world adoption. Instead of competing, it builds partnerships that combine complementary strengths.
Through its work with the DFINITY Foundation, the Association is co-developing three projects that integrate Hedera and Internet Computer Protocol (ICP)—one each in the U.S., Middle East, and Europe. These projects aim to merge Hedera’s consensus efficiency with ICP’s decentralized compute layer.
Kamal Youssefi described the goal clearly: “Each Layer 1 has its strengths and weaknesses… how can we bring all these technologies together?”
Beyond DFINITY, the Association maintains active dialogues with Solana, Cardano, and Algorand to explore shared infrastructure use cases. It also participates in initiatives like the DeRec Alliance, which unites major L1s around decentralized recovery standards.
This focus on interoperability allows Hedera to integrate into broader multi-chain systems while retaining its unique technical advantages.
The Future of AI and Distributed Ledger Integration
The Hashgraph Association sees the convergence of AI and distributed ledger technology (DLT) as a natural progression. Combining Hedera’s transparent, verifiable infrastructure with AI’s data-processing capabilities unlocks new enterprise and public-sector use cases.
This includes on-chain automation, intelligent agents, and enhanced identity systems. According to Youssefi, “We will see a more intelligent, immersive, and secure internet.”
Education programs under THA are already evolving to reflect this shift, with workshops and curriculum updates exploring how AI and DLT can work together.
Rather than focusing on hype, the Association emphasizes practical solutions. Its goal is to build systems where AI improves decision-making while Hedera ensures trust and accountability.
A Long-Term Vision for Digital Infrastructure
Kamal closed by emphasizing the transformative convergence of blockchain and artificial intelligence. He described this fusion as “not just an incremental change, but it’s a paradigm shift in how we interact with the digital world.”
He urged collaboration within the Hedera community, adding, “let’s go hand in hand out of the Hashgraph Association with our sister organizations such as the Hedera Foundation or the Exponential Science Foundation, together with the community and champs and advocates, to build an empowered digital future for all while leveraging Hedera Hashgraph capabilities.”
Finally, Kamal encouraged listeners to remain engaged with upcoming developments, stating clearly: “Stay tuned for THA updates and keep in touch with our management team to learn more about the innovation programs that we are structuring for the Hedera ecosystem.”
To stay updated, follow the Hashgraph Association at hashgraph.swiss.
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